Redskins: Doug Williams creates problems with comments on Reuben Foster
Doug Williams commented on the Redskins claiming Reuben Foster. His comments didn’t do anything to help the image of the organization.
There was definitely a way for the Redskins to move past the Reuben Foster signing without creating additional bad PR. Sure, the team deservedly got a lot of attention for claiming a man that had been arrested on domestic violence charges just days before, but there was a way for them to absorb the blow of the bad PR and make the move purely about football.
That didn’t end up happening.
In the Redskins initial statement about the move, the team made it abundantly clear that Foster would have to earn his role with the squad. And if he was guilty, he would never play for the Redskins. These were the correct moves to make from a PR standpoint, but Doug Williams’ comments on Thursday were absolutely not.
Williams spoke on the move to acquire Foster and at many times, he put his foot in his mouth. This statement though, per Dan Steinberg of The Washington Post, was the worst thing Williams said.
Williams on the larger moment: "“We’ve got people who are in high, high, high, high places that have done far worse, and if you look at it realistically, they’re still up there,” he said. “This is small potatoes [compared to] a lot of things out there."
— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) November 29, 2018
The NFL has a domestic violence problem, and the Redskins de facto GM just called the Reuben Foster case “small potatoes.” That’s not a good look at all.
Granted, Williams did reverse course a bit after, and called it “a big issue in America today,” but the damage was already done. By choosing that rhetoric, Williams essentially minimized the scale of the Foster issue. Whether he intended to or not, he said it wasn’t a big deal.
All Williams had to do was acknowledge that Foster is a good player. He just had to say that the team unanimously took a calculated risk on him because of his on-field talent. Most of what he said was okay, but that last statement crossed the line. It basically signified that the organization brushed off Foster’s character issues and didn’t see them as a big deal. And that’s a major concern, as domestic violence most certainly is a major problem and should be treated as such.
Next. Redskins podcast - Reuben Foster, 2018 fate. dark
Once again, the Redskins are in the headlines for the wrong reasons. We’ll see how the Foster case plays out, but this is going to leave a dark cloud hanging over the organization for the rest of the season. But either way, Williams’ comments today didn’t do a lot to alleviate concerns surrounding this move and the franchise.